A person is upon the deen of his khaleel (close friend), so look to whom you befriend.

We became friends many years ago upon the Sunnah and Salafiyyah and remained that way until the 25th of Ramadaan 1425. May Allaah allow us to meet again in His garden.

He provided me constantly with ?nourishment? (from the Book and Sunnah) as al-Ma?moon rahimahullaah said as mentioned in ?Muhaadaraat al-Asfahaanee?:

quote:

Brothers are of three (types): 1)A brother who is like nourishing food which at all times one is in need of 2) A brother who is like medicine which one is in need of sometimes 3) A brother who is like an illness which one is never in need of!

We were companions in da?wah on to many occasions to calculate.

Calling the people to at-Tawheed?calling the people to the Sunnah?calling the people to Salafiyyah?calling the people to at-Tasfiyah and at-Tarbiyah!

He was one of my sincere personal advisors in the most important affairs of my religion, livelihood and the next life. Giving it to me straight and sometimes bitter, not worrying about the blame of the blamers or the criticism of the criticizers.

O you who believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion (Islâm), Allâh will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers, fighting in the Way of Allâh, and never afraid of the blame of the blamers. That is the Grace of Allâh which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allâh is All­Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All­Knower.

Where will we now find the one to translate every word Shaikh Yahyaa al-Hajooree says - even the verses of poetry - when he teaches us?

Where will we find someone that can interpret the words of Shaikh Bazmool on ?Ilm on Line? or Shaikh Fawzee at our conferences?

Where will we find that ?suitable camel? to ride who has the experience, wisdom and understanding to bridge that communication gap and at the same time deliver what Shaikh Ubayd al-Jaabiree or his 'son' Muhammad al-?Anjaree are saying as though it is Aboo Uwais himself delivering the speech, lesson or class?

For a surety

quote:

"People are just like camels, out of one hundred, one can hardly find a single camel suitable to ride."

Collected by al-Imaam Al-Bukharee

An example of the Sunnah: It was related to me from Aboo ?Ubaydah Amr Basheer that one day when Aboo Uways and some of the mashaayikh were staying at his home in the UK, it began to rain very hard.

Aboo ?Ubaydah allowed Aboo ?Uwais to wear one of his nicer jackets.

As Aboo ?Ubaydah was looking around the house for Aboo Uways who was nowhere to be found, he noticed that Aboo Uwais was standing outside in the yard area, extending outward his jacket allowing the rain to hit it.

Aboo Ubaydah asked him ? puzzled ? as to what was he doing [with his nice jacket], so Aboo Uwais responded: ?Barakah from Allaah!? with reference to the hadeeth from the Prophet where he used to do this and even putting his household utensils out in the rain saying ?It [the rain] is a new creation!?

In shaa Allaah, the site of the funeral is: West Side Park Recreation Center on South 17th Street in Newark, New Jersey (within West Side Park) between 16th and 18th avenues.

The directions can be located at MapQuest ? North, South, East or West of the USA - by putting in this address: 600 South 17th Street in Newark, New Jersey 07103.

(NOTE: This is not the address of one of the brothers, but just being used as a means to find the funeral prayer site)

The time and date of the prayer: Tuesday 1425 Ramadaan 26/November 9, 2004 at 10:00am.

I only knew Aboo Uwais(Rahimahullaah) for the time he spent with us in Masjid Rahmah. As I hear the statements from our elders in the Da'wah I understand that what I got from his classes and talking to him was just a bit of what Allaah had blessed him with of 'Ilm. He understood the level of understanding of the people he talked to and the like. As I remembered something of an example from one of the classes on, I believe it was, Aqeedatul waasitiyyah. After he translated a portion of the lesson, showing its seriousness by his raising of his voice, he said: "AND NOW I'M GOING TO TRANSLATE IT INTO "BRICK CITY!" making us laugh but driving in a point of how much he wanted us to understand how serious the matter was.

A salafee brother from Buffalo told me one time when Aboo Uwais first came here to New Jersey , he said: "TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WHAT YOU(ALL) ARE GETTING WHEN YOU(ALL)GET ABOO UWAIS(RAHIMAHULLAAH)" Walhamdulillaah, I guess I didnt really understand until a few days back when I was awaken by a phone call. May Allaah make us firm upon this Deen in the west, land of distractions.

Ameen!!!

May Allaah forgive him his sins and make his grave expansive and grant him Jennah Firdaus! Ameen!!!